How many present from santa

[Whatsthesmell]

I know this will have been asked and sort of goes hand in hand with how much do you spend but I'm wondering roughly how many presents does santa bring your children.
As in does he have a pile of under 5 presents, under 10 or more like 20plus?

I have a 2yo and a 1yo and I don't want to go over board but I come from a family who would buy (in my opinion) insane amounts of presents.
As a child I'd wake to a mountain of presents on Christmas morning. My brother who has a child older than mine would get a sickening amount. My mum still will buy the grandkids piles. (i asked her not last year and reminded her she's no long santa but it fell on deaf ears and more stuff arrived).
I'm feeling like I should go along with it, but I cant shake the feeling its too much. My brother would send every Christmas eve an photo to say santa has been to our group chat, last year i didn't do one because I felt a bit down that my kids combined got less than one of his. I felt guilty when he then visited on the day and was like so what did santa bring my dc where then 1yo and 5mth so I didn't think needed alot. Infact I thought I went over board. But he reels a list off what santa brought his the. 4yo & 10mth.

Sorry that turned into a abit of a story.... Basically I'm wondering roughly how many presents santa brings, I don't know whether my family are a but obsessed or I'm a bit miserable.
My oldest now starting to understand christmas and I could afford more but I guess I don't know what is "normal".

The children don't compare whenheyrw little.
My brother,sil and 3 children came for a few years.They got so many presents and all first thing in the morning.,DD ,with stocking in hand got very excited helping them open them.
She liked her stocking best as even if I was going to work was something she opened in bed with me.
Presents were under the tree and opened around 11 when there is a big lull and n cooking and she loved handing out the presents as much as recieving.

Ps.She 16 and remembers the tree,handing out presies and her stocking(which she still gets.),She remembers a few main presies but nothing else.Just make it fun,lots of laughter and silly things to do.

One-they ask for one present from Santa and it cannot be electronics like video consoles and tablets because Santa does not have the space at the workshop to make all that sort of thing.

1 and their stocking which is small stuff.

Rest are family and friends and they write thank yous for them.

Stocking is from Father Christmas- 4/5 small items e.g. hair clips, colouring book etc. Then 5/6 ‘main’ presents from myself and DP. We never go overboard so can be things like books, a new dress up outfit, a game etc

Santa brings the stocking and a small present that dd asks for in her letter. But we have explained that it had to fit in the special presrnt box so ca nonly be small - last year it was some sylvanian families, year before a bicycle bell (weird child lol)

Mine get 1 from Santa and then he also fills their stocking with small bits and pieces. Everything else is from us or other family/friends. I've never understood how Santa could fit more than 1 gift per child on his sleigh tbh!

In our house Father Christmas just delivers the presents. I’m not even sure how it started tbh it’s kind of evolved over the years. DD’s 9 and 7 - I’m assuming they no longer believe but it’s never been said, but they have both alluded to not believing and they have worked out the tooth fairy - have never said anything about how other families ‘do’ Father Christmas.

I do think as parents we tend to overthink stuff and Father Christmas is the big one - how it works, are DC getting enough, does he bring all the presents etc. And from my own DC none of the above actually matters, Father Christmas bought presents for them to open on Christmas Day.

In our house Santa brings one main present and a small stocking. Then we get DS maybe 4-6 other things. (He only has two other relatives who get him gifts). We’re also totally mean and don’t open family gifts until after lunch but that would be another thread entirely.

Please don’t feel you have to go overboard just because others do it. I did this due to similar pressure for DS’s first Christmas, and it was just way, way too much stuff and he got overwhelmed. Last year we got just a few bits and it was so lovely compared to the previous year. We also saw relatives on Christmas Eve rather than Xmas Day for a meal, and he opened their presents then, which helped make the next day less about the stuff too. Just let your brother do his thing, and you do yours-it gets easier the more you do it, and you get to feel smug about not tripping over piles of toys!

One each
20 presents? That’s ridiculous mine get 5 or 6 inc Santa one or it just becomes meaningless plastic tat strewn everywhere

We also do stockings from santa and other gifts are from real people.
This is to encourage our kids to understand that they need to say thanks to giver, and not have a sense of entitlement. As they get older they are also expected to buy for each other (we give them 5 quid per person to spend).

1 from Santa here. I don't know what DS's father does though. I might have to talk to him to make sure the stories are consistent. DS writes a letter to Santa for his 1 present, and that's the one that goes in the stocking. I get him all the others under the tree.

Ooh I've missed this forum but seeing as it's mid-September it's time to get cracking with Christmas. I get the stress OP, my advice would simply be - do Christmas how you want to do it and stand firm. You're the one setting expectations in your house and if you feel that is different to the rest of your family that's fine! The easy way to sort "but why does x get more presents" is a quick "parents talk to Santa and tell him how much to bring and we're really lucky and think other families need the gifts more" or something similar. My kids have never asked this and I never asked my parents either. So if you're lucky they may no notice what others are doing. I also think it's important to make Christmas more than one day. We do things throughout December right up to New Year and it feels like a season. It's simple things like they both get a Christmas jumper at the start of December to wear out to events. They have a little Elf that visits. Granparents take them to the panto. We spread out the Christmas films. We also have a little party for all the little kids in the family around the 15th where they do Christmas crafts and get Christmas treats for lunch. Nothing costly really but we've found it takes the pressure off Christmas day a bit as there's lots to be looking forward to and getting involved with.

All that said though I grew up in a family like yours and I go overboard as a result. I set out with great intentions and then just get carried away. I can't help it, I bloody love Christmas.

We do stockings but I honestly wish we didn't. I had one as a kid and loved it but I think it was more for my parents to get a bit longer in bed. The problem in our house is I'm the most excited and awake before the bloody kids are! It's hands down the bit I hate shopping for the most as it's what gets overlooked but I can't stop it now or the kids would ask why Santa forgot. So Santa brings that.

We tend to get the kids one main gift and a few smaller. Then Santa leaves a sack under the tree with something they REALLY wanted and some things he thinks they'd like (a book, sweets, smaller toys).

The rest are made up from family and they label them as such. Grandparents did initially seem to try labelling the odd one from Santa but they have thankfully stopped that now.

We also do a Christmas Eve box which I know is controversial on here. That has reduced in size each year and is now basically PJs, a bath robe, and some Christmas biscuits to share. We say the Elf left it but I'm fairly sure the eldest will work it out this year!

In addition to my previous post, my in-laws still go over the top and give my children loads which unfortunately ends up in the bin not long after as usually cheap tar that breaks within minutes. And stockings.

My parents give one wanted present from the list. My children get much more enjoyment from what my parents give them. They are too overwhelmed with my in-laws presents as there is just too much.

It’s like my in-laws are always trying to say “look at us, don’t we have a lot of money getting you all of this”. (When they don’t) and trying to buy their love.

Mine are teens and we still have a Santa stocking each - small gifts socks cards pens coffee shop voucher

Then they’d get one gift from Santa and then presents from us and family under the tree.

Although Santa doesn’t bring a bigger gift, they still enjoy the stockings!

I meant to say, I wouldn’t buy stuff for the sake of it. I buy them things they’ve asked for - but not all, thoughtful gifts they need and must have Christmas mug.

As kids, we were always allowed to ask for one "big toy" and surprise. We would get the thing we asked for and a couple of nice surprises, depending on what we asked for - I see now that this is how our parents balanced out the gifts if one of us asked for something bigger than another. But it really would be just a couple of nice surprises, not a massive stash. Maybe a calendar, a book, a smaller toy... Our stocking was also from Santa.

We plan to do it the same way in our house. One named gift and a surprise can go on the letter, and if we add a couple of small extras to balance it out, cool.
I completely agree with previous poster that if the Santa gift is huge or made up of lots of expensive things, it's really sad for little kids whose parents are not as well off (aside from the materialism - kids do not need the amounts I have heard of!). They can compare their Santa gifts to what others get and wonder why Santa likes them less or what they did wrong. It's so sad. These kids probably already know that their parents don't have the same amount of money but they don't need to feel a big difference from Santa too.
For that reason, I always encourage parents whose kids have asked for something quite expensive (e.g. iPad) and who are willing to buy it, to make the expensive gift from the parents and not from Santa, again so that less well off parents aren't broken hearted trying to match that and their kids confused and upset. Santa is such a lovely concept and wouldn't discriminate between rich and poor! ❤️

When mine still believed we did the portable North Pole letter online where you get to ask for three main things. Then they'd get one from Santa, one from me and one from their Dad. On top of this stockings and smaller gifts from extended family so always too many ch but not a huge pile and mainly the three longed for treats.

Sorry OP and everyone - I kind of went a bit off topic there. I meant to say that I have thought about the above a lot, and because my in laws have a very different background and childhood to my family, I have wondered if I will end up in a similar situation as what you described. If so, I plan to share my thoughts as above and a few other reasons as to why I'd like the in laws to prioritise quality and significance with their gifts rather than quantity and expense. Hope that makes sense!

Stocking- it’s quite big though. Pants, socks, toothbrush, smellies, sweets, a book, a toy.
Main present this year a big Lego set.
Sack of smaller gifts eg this year will be books, new dressing gown and bedding, couple of smaller toys.
It is quite a lot but not a mountain, we’ll probably spend £300 altogether

I don’t think there is a norm, just lots of families doing things in different ways. The important thing is to align what you do at Christmas with the values and beliefs you want to pass on to your dc.
If spending time with family is an important part of Christmas, then you might have to find a compromise in the gift giving or change your “Santa story” a little.
I’ve always instructed my dc to ask Santa for just one thing in their letter (I’ve usually planted or nurtured an idea beforehand) that isn’t too expensive. I reminded them that they have very generous relatives and Santa has lots of other children on his list to look after, some who only get gifts from Santa and some who are much poorer than we are.
I would prefer if my relatives would rein in the gift giving a bit, but they won’t. I put up with that, and them for the pleasure of spending time together at Christmas.

One special Santa gift usually cuddly toy variety

My 5yo DD gets one (or at a push 2) presents from Santa. Everything else is from real people. So far Dd hasn’t wanted an expensive present so I’m happy to say the thing she really wants is from Santa.

I tend to even it out. Stocking always filled by Father Christmas. Presents about half and half. So if 30 presents, would be 10 from me and 10 from Father Christmas. I usually do the best present/s from Santa

Honestly I deliberated this a lot when they were small but mine never asked which home present was from who. If a gift is under the tree and gone down so someone else we make a point of saying who, but we've never had to say 'this is from Santa and this is from us'. I just don't think that's really on most kids radar. Another observation I've made over the years is kids don't tend to ask their friends what they got got for Christmas. Ignorant swines! It's literally never come up. Don't buy more than you feel comfortable with because you are worried they will notice. If they do it will be when they are much older and you can come up with something then.